Television electronic programming guide (EPG) systems now in use offer one view of a programming space that shows programs on all the channels in the system, including video-on-demand, pay-per-view, and recorded programs. These EPGs also offer an alternative view which includes some variation of a favorites or most-viewed listing, which is composed by a viewer who selects channels for inclusion therein.
In some cases, even when a viewer has assembled a list of favorites, which is typically a small number of channels, the viewer may wish to view other channel listings on the EPG, but may not remember the channels, out of all the listed channels, for which subscriptions exist.
Because current EPGs show all channels including subscribed and unsubscribed channels, it is only after the viewer specifically selects a channel that the viewer may discover that a subscription for the channel does not exist. Part of the reason for showing all channels whether subscribed or unsubscribed is to promote programs on these channels. By making the listing available, the viewer has an incentive to subscribe to a channel if the viewer so chooses.
With the recent advent of personal video recorders (PVRs) and digital video recorders (DVRs), in combination with EPGs or IPGs, it can become extremely annoying for a viewer who may choose to record a program at some future time, only to discover, after the recording has occurred, that e.g. for two hours a message to call an 800 number because the user has not subscribed to the channel on which the program was aired.
There is thus a need for a system that lets a viewer discern whether a subscription for a channel exists at the time of viewing the EPG to select programs for viewing and/or recording, or a system that lets the viewer view an EPG mode where the EPG displays only the subscribed channels instead of all the channels in the system. At the very least, the EPG should give the viewer a warning at the time of selecting a program for future recording, that the channel is not subscribed.